Best Cheap Wah Pedal Guide

Finding a high quality but cheap wah pedal will be a hell of a lot
easier now you've found this page!

First, ask yourself these questions.
Do you want to use wah predominantly in your lead soloing, clean
playing or both? Do you want a classic wah sound (think
Hendrix, Page, SRV) or something more modern and versatile that will
also handle those screaming metal solos?

Whatever your wah needs, see the in depth guide
below for a closer look at the best cheap wah pedals available new
today. Read the consensus of reviews, hear them in action and get the
best price.

Classic Cheap Wah Pedal #1

The
go-to wah pedal for many gigging and recording pros, yet one of the
cheapest available. Smooth, distinctive, instantly recognisable and
irresistable with a bit of dirt.

Dunlop Original Crybaby Wah Pedal

Certainly the most popular wah pedal available, and very reasonably
priced. The Crybaby has reached legendary status in the wah-world,
popularised by such greats as Hendrix, Clapton, Morello and Hammett.
But even disregarding its "rock royalty" status, hundreds of real user
reviews tell you it's simply a fantastic pedal.

Noiseless,
reliable and sonically simple, it delivers a strong and distinctive wah
that other pedals can't touch. It's often compared side by side with
its classic rival, the Vox V847 (see below), but it always boils down
to personal taste.

If any meaningful, objective comparison is to be made, the Crybaby is a
mellower
wah, but it's also rich and complex. Position the pedal about half way
down for some added warmth to your existing tone, or ease it down
slowly during a quick legato run for a beautifully smooth yawn that
gives your licks an added dynamic.

The Crybaby's strongest
performance can be heard with distortion. Again, that defined
smoothness lifts your lead rather than chewing it up as with many cheap
wah pedals.

The range is slightly narrower than on the
V847, but the Crybaby is a cheap wah pedal for those who want more
conservative, nuanced
tone shaping capabilities, rather than full on,
wild vocal expression. You can really tease the wah out of each note
with ease.

Vox V847 Wah Pedal

The broader vocal sweep gives you more frequency to play with, giving
you the option of a particularly strong wah expression, which is more
focussed on the mid-range with a sweet top end.

Many users have placed the V847 firmly in the vintage rock/blues camp
but it also has enough voice for those funkier, percussive chops. It
handles all but the heaviest distortion fine, but truly shines over
clean playing, giving you some nice phlegmy breakup as you tip
the rocker forward at higher volumes.

Users also note that there is no popping noise as with the Crybaby when
switching on/off (which has bugged some). This, along with the richer,
fuller sonic sweep is a large part of what justifies the extra 20 bucks.

For those who seek to attain artist-specific tones such as "that
Hendrix/Page/Frusciante sound", then you'll find the Vox represents
many of them authentically.

In a nutshell, the V847 is for clean, classic rock/blues/funk players
who want a broad vocal sweep with that vintage, honky mid range
reminiscent of Jimi and SRV.

Versatile Cheap Wah Pedal

Highly customisable and highly rated. If you need a wah pedal to
complement your broad playing style, or you've skipped the two above
because you need something a bit more modern and tweakable, save up
that extra few bob and look no further than the...

Ibanez WD7 Weeping Demon Wah Pedal

Amazing reception from wah lovers, the WD7 gives you total
control over your expression tone and allows you to, literally, lock it
in place by pushing the knobs into the case.

Auto-on negates the need to stomp down onto a pad or button, activating
the wah with a mere nudge of the rocker. There's also a useful
spring-loaded mechanism which takes the rocker back to heel-down
position when you take off your foot. If you prefer the old-fashioned
switch, it's to the side rather than under the toes, meaning you can
hold the rocker in your sweet spot and activate from there.

The Demon handles everything from subtle, clean sweeps to modern
"extreme" wah for squealing Wylde and Dimebag-esque solos. Spend time
tweaking and you will find the perfect wah tone for your individual
style. That's what makes this pedal so great - you create tone.

If you just need a good starting point though, the manual comes with
some presets to find your bearings and tweak from there.

It seems this pedal also has plenty of surprises - the cranked up crazy
harmonics, the groove coaxing bass wah and some of the widest, most
powerful sonic sweeps you'll ever need.

Overall, a relatively cheap wah pedal for those experimental players
who don't want to pigeon-hole
their sound or date it to a specific era.